It is wrong to make the sides of a roadway weaker than the centre, especially in streets with shops on each side, or on hills where drags are likely to be used. On hills, too, be it remembered, the channels should take the surface water; any ruts from wheel tracks acting as watercourses are disastrous. Hauling timber on a macadamised roadway is also very damaging. The great objections to macadamised roadways are as follows:-- (1.) They manufacture too much mud and dust.[23] (2.) They are too absorbent. (3.) They are very noisy and damaging to vehicles and horses when fresh metalled. (4.) They constantly require mending, but never seem quite sound. (5.) They are frequently encumbered by men and carts engaged in either repairs, cleansing, or watering. (6.) They are very expensive to maintain and cleanse. (7.) They are bad for a horse to fall upon, as such falls generally damage the knees. The following notes upon the maintenance of macadamised roadways may here be of service:-- (1.) Roads should be inspected in wet weather, as hollows and other imperfections are then easily detected; a hollow place extends very rapidly if neglected. (2.) All ruts should be filled in at once. If there are three parallel, the centre rut should be first filled in; the traffic is thus slightly diverted, as a horse will avoid new metal. (3.) Ruts should not be allowed to form; the surface of the road ought never to lose its regular section. (4.) A road should be thoroughly repaired directly it shows the least sign of being fairly worn all over. (5.) The right season of the year for repairs is the autumn, although where a steam roller can be used almost any time will do. If the surface of the road is very hard it should be “lifted”[24] previous to repairs. (6.) All loose stones should be picked off at once or put together in hollow places upon the roadway, as, if allowed to remain, they are not only dangerous to horses, but are liable to be crushed, or to be forced through the skin of the roadway, thus causing it damage. (7.) Water lodging upon a road does great mischief, but it should not be let off by digging a trench with a pickaxe to the side of roadway, as is sometimes done. (8.) A roadway when very dry sometimes suffers through disintegration of the surface. (9.) Scraping the mud off a roadway may damage it by loosening stones; sweeping the surface when wet is best. (10.) A heavy shower does a road good by washing it; a continuous drizzle, especially after frost, is very ruinous to a roadway. (11.) A good cleansing is sometimes worth a coat of metal.[25] _Bituminous Roadways._